
Glossary
Aurase®
Enzymatic agent as part of an innovative gel-based medical device for the biotherapeutic treatment of chronic wounds
Bioactive natural compounds
Used to develop products for the food, beverages, skin care, cosmetics and chemical industries
Bio-based products
Bio-based products are goods manufactured from renewable raw materials
Biocatalysts
Enzymes that act as catalysts to accelerate (bio)chemical reactions
Biocatalysts Ltd. and Biocatalysts Inc
Members of the BRAIN Group based in UK (headquarters in Cardiff, Wales) and in US (Illinois); global distributor network e.g. Korea, Australia, New Zealand. Key player in the specialty enzyme business
Bioeconomy
Concept for a biobased economy; mega-trend that encompasses the transformation from industries based on fossil raw materials to a more sustainable form of economic activity that mainly utilizes biological resources and processes
BioIndustrial
One of BRAIN’s two business segments: development and marketing of the company’s own products along the value chain
Biologization of industry
Application of biological processes in an industrial setting with the aim of creating a more sustainable economy
Biorefinery
Technology for the sustainable processing of biomass into marketable products (e.g. food, feed, materials, chemicals) and energy (fuels, electricity, heat). Integrated biorefineries combine various such technologies with the aim of greater flexibility and cost reduction. Integrated biorefineries facilitate the use of byproducts and waste, and enable the production of high-quality products (e.g. fine chemicals) combined with low-quality products (e.g. bioenergy).
BioScience
One of BRAIN’s two business segments: cooperation business established with globally operating industrial partners
Biotechnology
Application-oriented sub-sector of biology; includes insights and methods from microbiology, genetics, biochemistry, technical chemistry and process engineering; utilizes biological processes e.g. for industrial applications
BioXtractor
BRAIN demonstration plant for next-generation metal extraction in the areas of green and urban mining based on microorganisms. → BioXtractor
BRAIN Bioarchive
In-house collection consisting of around 53,000 comprehensively characterized microorganisms (including “chassis microorganism” strains for the development of production organisms) and the BRAIN libraries: an enzyme library, a metagenome library and a substance library with numerous isolated natural compounds (see also BRAIN libraries) → BRAIN Bioarchive
BRAIN Libraries
BRAIN Group collections of enzymes, DNA sequences or natural substances
→ Enzyme library: up to 500 isolated and pre-characterized enzymes and DNA coding for enzymes introduced into expression vectors
→ Metagenome library: screenable DNA library with metagenomes from different habitats; collection serves to identify previously uncharacterized enzymes and metabolic pathways
→ Substance library: collection of natural substances with sub-libraries of specific, well-characterized groups of substances
Bulk enzymes markets
Volume-driven mass markets for enzymes sold in large volumes. This stands in contrast with the high-margin business with specialty enzymes
Business-to-Business (B2B)
Form of the market in which the supply and rendering of services is realized by companies to companies (= business relations between at least two companies)
Circular Bioeconomy
Term derived from the fusion of the two concepts of the “bio-economy” and the “circular economy”; circular bio-economy focuses on the sustainable, resource-efficient utilization of biomass in integrated production chains (e.g. biorefineries) while simultaneously utilizing residual and waste materials; the sequential use (cascade use) of biomass resources for different purposes ensures value optimization.
Clone
Genetically identical organisms, created by natural division or reproduction, or artificially created
Circular economy
Concept for the complete recovery of raw materials utilized, beyond a commodity’s life cycle, through to new production processes; component of the bioeconomy
Compliance
Alignment of companies with laws and directives, as well as voluntary codes
Development pipeline
Total number of BRAIN Group development projects for New Business/Product Development
Development projects
R&D projects of the BRAIN Group for New Business/Product Development
DNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid: biomolecule that carries genetic information (genes)
DOLCE
Strategic partnership initiated by BRAIN for the development of natural sweeteners and sweet taste enhancers. → DOLCE
Enzymes
Proteins that accelerate biochemical reactions in their function as biocatalysts; play an important role in the development of biobased products; BRAIN identifies and develops optimized enzymes and biocatalysts for complex process and application requirements
FRESCO
BRAIN development program for freshness and product stability utilizing natural bioactive substances; suitable for the food and feed industry, for medical products, paints, cleaning agents and other household products. → FRESCO
Giga-bp
DNA Length of a DNA sequence, indicated by the number of base pairs (1 Giga bp = 1,000,000,000 base pairs); common metagenomics measure
GRAS status
"Generally Regarded as Safe status": declaration of safety for the use of substances (e.g. microorganisms) to manufacture foodstuffs; GRAS organisms can be utilized without restriction in biotechnological production
Green mining
Sustainable mining, e.g. ore treatment to extract gold, silver or copper using microorganisms rather than chemicals
Habitat
An organism’s natural environment
High-performance microorganisms
Biotechnologically optimized microorganisms that serve as microbial “cell factories”
HTC technology
Human Tongue Cell Technology; in vitro test system based on human tongue cells, established and patented by BRAIN to test substances for their sweetening power
Industrial biotechnology
Also known as white biotechnology; drives innovation for a paradigm shift away from petroleum-based towards biological processes and bioeconomy products
Metagenome
All the genomic information present in all the microorganisms of a specific community
Metagenomics
Genomic analysis of a community of organisms by gene sequencing; genetic material is extracted, sequenced and analyzed directly from environmental samples, which saves the previous cultivation of microorganisms
Microorganism
Microscopically small unicellular or multicellular organisms, e.g. bacteria, algae, fungi or viruses
New Business Development (NBD) at BRAIN group
Systematic further development of existing and development of new business opportunities including e.g. R&D and marketing activities
New Product Development (NPD) at BRAIN Group
R&D activities that aim to develop product candidates for the BRAIN Group’s own market offerings
Peptides
Linear, sometimes ring-shaped chain of molecules consisting of two or more amino acids; long polypeptide chains are called proteins.
Product sales at BRAIN Group
Sales of products in the form of merchandise, technologies or biotechnological system solutions; can be achieved via the BRAIN Group’s direct B2B business or through joint product developments with industrial partners and corresponding licensing agreements; scalable-product business option offered by the BRAIN Group (see also R&D cooperation partnerships)
R&D
Research and development
SALT-E
One of several BRAIN development programs for healthier foods through salt reduction. → SALT-E
SDG-UN
United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
Specialty chemicals
Specific chemical products with a broad range of activities on which a large number of other industrial sectors depend
Synthetic Biology
Area of biology in which organisms are modified to develop new, useful abilities
Specialty enzymes market
Markets for high-margin specialty enzymes business
Stage-gate process
Standardized process model for developing product innovations with the aim of assuring process quality
Tailor-made solutions (TMS)
Dedicated contract R&D programs for the development of tailor-made solutions for industry
Urban mining
Sustainable extraction of valuable substances from secondary raw materials and waste flows in order to retain them in value chains in the long term. → BioXtractor
White biotechnology
Includes the application of modern biotechnology in industrial production processes. Chemical starting materials are converted by enzymes and cells into products suitable for further processing. Also known as industrial biotechnology